50 years later, readers remember where they were

Saturday

Nov 16, 2013 at 10:02 AM

Editor’s Note: We asked local readers to give us their thoughts on President John F. Kennedy for the 50th anniversary of his assassination this Friday. Many remembered where they were when they heard the news. Others speculated on the conspiracy theories, some agreeing with the Warren Commission’s lone gunman conclusion and others seeing a more sinister explanation. A recent poll showed 80 percent of the American public believes Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone.

Editor’s Note: We asked local readers to give us their thoughts on President John F. Kennedy for the 50th anniversary of his assassination this Friday. Many remembered where they were when they heard the news. Others speculated on the conspiracy theories, some agreeing with the Warren Commission’s lone gunman conclusion and others seeing a more sinister explanation. A recent poll showed 80 percent of the American public believes Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone.

I was a high school junior and had just sat down in biology class. Jim Page was in the back of the room, waving his hand for attention. It seemed as if he shouted something about the president being shot. The teacher didn’t quite believe him so we went ahead with our class until the Principal announced the news over the PA system. I have no memory of the rest of the day, but a photographer captured the expressions on the faces in one (all girls) classroom as the announcement was made.

The photo is from the 1963-1964 yearbook of New Albany High School in New Albany, Ind. I graduated from the school in 1965, as did most or all of the girls in the picture. The expressions on their faces capture how I felt when I heard the news; and perhaps others who are old enough to remember the day will also identify with the picture.

I remember coming up the steps to my law office in Liberty when Marjorie Burrage and Jim Parker of the Liberty News told me about JFK’s assassination. I watched the media report on this over the next week or so. I got caught up in our national grief and found myself weeping. I even composed a poem about JFK.

I believe Oswald to be the lone gunman. Had there been anyone else, that could not have been kept a secret this long. Recently, a police officer shot a young person with a toy AK47 Rifle, hitting the victim with seven out of eight shots. Oswald was a good enough marksman to hit with accuracy his target and get off several rounds in seconds to do so.

JFK inspired us to become as big as our dreams. Because no one felt like saying no to the dream the fallen JFK had to enact civil rights legislation, LBJ was able to do more in the area than JFK could have ever done had he lived. Thus, in a sense JFK became a martyr for civil rights and equality for all.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

(written after Kennedy’s death, 1963)

How quiet in death

And still he lies

Beneath the sod,

Hid from the skies.

His frame grows cold

And turns to earth,

But in this death

There is great Birth.

The birth, now new,

Engulfs all nations.

It touches all men,

What e’er their stations.

No one could stop

This burst of youth.

Born from this death

Is inspiration

For those who live

To find elation

In spreading truth

Wherever they go

To speak forthright

On what they know.

Yet truth is but

A part of him

Which grows

to never dim.

We need not wonder

About his good

For this so like

A boulder stood.

One year and one month after the Cuban missile crisis of Oct. 22, 1962, I was in American History class at the Wingate Jr. College on Friday, Nov. 22, 1963, at about 1:30 p.m.

Professor Sparks’ class was interrupted by someone at the classroom door. She left the class to return with a stunned looked. Nervously, from her pocketbook, she retrieved a transistor radio and the class listened in silent disbelief to the report of President Kennedy’s assassination.

I was 6 years old and home from school for some reason. I was watching "The Beverly Hillbillies," my favorite TV show, and they interrupted the show. I was so upset to miss the show and did not understand what was happening. I always felt so sorry for Caroline and John, especially after losing my own mother later on. As I have grown older, I admire Jackie so much for her strength and her protection for her children. What an awesome lady she was!!!

A few years ago I went to the very site where it happened in Dallas, toured the building (The Texas School Book Depository) where the shots were fired. It was a very moving experience even then to realize how quickly life can change.

Friday, November 22, 1963.

I was 24 years old, employed in shipping and receiving at Sears, Roebuck and Co. mail order plant in Greensboro. I was single, had a well-paying job, an almost new car, and had just moved into my own apartment. The Christmas rush was in full swing. Life was good.

At 3:00 o’clock break, I was on the loading dock grabbing some fresh air when one of the part-time crew came up the steps and announced, "Just heard on the radio that someone shot the President!" Say, what????, "Yep, that’s what they said, didn’t give any details."

Thus, for the remainder of the afternoon, although quite busy, everyone was wondering just what the heck was going on.

Later that day, the evening news confirmed the worst, and for the next several weeks, actually, for the next several months, there were so many rumors and so much speculation that it was impossible to draw a logical conclusion.

Eventually, the sole blame was placed on one Lee Harvey Oswald, leaving everyone to wonder just how in the world did one man, who didn’t seem to be wrapped too tight to begin with, accomplish something of this magnitude?

Speculation ran wild, with various theories being formulated as to just what actually happened, the most popular being that of a conspiracy, but by who or whom and why, was sheer speculation. Many names and faces came to the fore, but nothing conclusive. This one dastardly act of violence resulted in almost as many changes in world affairs as did the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Do I believe there actually was a conspiracy? Logic would say that there would almost have to be. It was more of a task than one man, alone, could accomplish. Who was responsible? I have no evidence and therefore will not speculate. The truth exists, somewhere, most likely locked securely in a vault in some obscure spot, never to see the light of day.

At least not in our lifetime, nor likely the next.

Mrs. Yount and Mrs. Koon were teachers for the two first-grade classes at Conover Grade School, in Conover, N.C. I was in Mrs. Yount’s class.

During our nap time, Mrs. Koon came over and told our teacher about the shooting. Mrs. Yount woke us up. Our school let out early. When I got home, my mom was watching the news on an old black and white TV set. I recall hearing the drums, the morbid music that the TV network was playing as an introduction into the news from the commercials. For years after, I feared the dark. That was common for kids my age.

I was in the 6th grade at Coal City Elementary School, Coal City, W.Va. School was dismissed and we were sent home. Our television was on, and as I entered the room it frightened me to find my mother weeping and praying. The rest of the day was very solemn and although I did not comprehend the gravity of the moment, I understood the facts.

My father would expound upon his theories for many years. At that, I can’t be sure that my opinions on the matter are truly my own. However, it seems to me that both assassins (Lee Harvey Oswald and his killer, Jack Ruby) involved were insignificant little men trying to make big names for themselves. If "going down in history" was a goal, it is certain that both accomplished that goal.

The date, Nov. 22, 1963, and the days following will forever be etched in my memory.

I was a sophomore in high school. Our principal was Mr. M.T. Honeycutt (AKA Frog by those students who thought they knew him on a more personal basis). He was a short little man with a flat-top haircut, big, black, horn-rimmed glasses and a deep, raspy, booming voice. He was in charge and everybody knew it. We had a one-way loudspeaker system coming into each classroom, but it was seldom used except for important messages and they were only presented first thing in the morning during homeroom. All other messages were hand-delivered by couriers from the office and the teacher would read them aloud only if they pertained to a particular situation or student in the class.

As was typical, I had eaten last lunch and was sitting in fifth period World History class. I don’t know about you, but having a full stomach and fifth-period history were somewhat conducive to inducing long moments of mental slumber. I don’t think my eyes actually closed, but my mind surely took short vacations.

And then it happened. "Crack." Mr. Honeycutt had flipped on the PA and began speaking:

"President Kennedy has been shot and is dead."

I am certain he said more, but that was as far as my thoughts went. Some of the students immediately began to applaud and laugh and whatever idiots do in those situations. The remainder of us entered into a state of bewilderment and silence. Our teacher, Mr. Joe Wright, a first-year teacher, as bewildered as we were, then began to talk to us and we were better able to grasp a sense of the severity of the situation.

My next memories are watching Walter Cronkite on TV, with tears in his eyes, giving details of the event and seeing news footage of the actual shooting and the convertible speeding away with the First Lady appearing to try to crawl out the back of the car. Then there was news footage of Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson being sworn in as president aboard Air Force One.

Camelot was gone. The Russians were still public enemy #1. Racial tensions remained strong throughout the South. Don’t forget the Hippies. And Viet Nam was just getting started.

I was a brand new fireman at the Asheboro Fire Department and on the day JFK was shot, we had just heard it on TV and got a fire call. It was my first response to a call as a fireman, so it’s real easy to remember what I was doing on that day.

I am currently doing the morning show on WZOO 700 AM in Asheboro and would like to add my comments on the JFK assassination.

I was a sophomore at Ben L. Smith High School in Greensboro. It was the beginning of typing class and our instructor was Mr. Ayers. He was also one of the school’s football coaches and well known for his humor. Amid all the noise of everyone settling in to their seats and the usual student banter, I overheard a student mention that the president had been shot and someone from across the room asked who shot him.

Coach Ayers quickly replied John Wilkes Booth and strongly suggested we quiet down for class to begin. Knowing Coach Ayers’ sense of humor, I thought they had been joking and didn’t think any more about it.

My next class began at 2:30 and about five or ten minutes into it, the assistant principal made an announcement over the intercom informing us that the president had been shot and had died. At that moment I realized what I had brushed aside as a joke was actually true. To say we were shocked would be an understatement.

As most of us old enough to remember can recall, all three of the local TV stations carried their respective network’s coverage for the next four days. I have always been interested in radio and I remember the coverage provided by WPET 950 AM, WCOG 1320 AM and WKIX 850 AM which were the stations I listened to at the time. Their formats were Top Forty and they played Elvis, Neil Sedaka, Four Seasons and all the other groups kids my age enjoyed, but for the next four days they played what I have always called funeral music. Having been in and out of radio since 1967, I’ve always wondered how they found such slow and somber music as quickly as they did.

I think the military or CIA was involved in the assassination. JFK was misinformed by the CIA/military when they convinced him to invade Cuba (Bay of Pigs) in 1961. The invasion was a major failure and an embarrassment. The president never fully trusted them again. As the Vietnam War heated up, the CIA/military attempted and failed to convince the president to increase U.S. involvement in the conflict. Knowing JFK could not be fooled again, it was advantageous for the CIA/military to have someone in office more receptive to their way of thinking.

I don’t think LBJ was involved. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time and was easier to manipulate. (Hope my rambling makes some kind of sense.) And then there’s the theory about the Mafia being involved, but I won’t go there.

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